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Sunday, February 20, 2011
Reality Check
5:28 PM | 
Posted by
The I.I. |
This blog thread posted by the Irving Inquisition uses some explicit language, as well as depicting some aspects of life in North Minneapolis that some readers may find objectionable. Reader discretion is advised.
Reality Check
I’m going to be frank with you, and challenge all of you to be honest with yourselves. Livability and commerce in NoMi are probably in the worst condition of all time.
There’s another tidal wave of foreclosures ripping through the city. It would seem that in many instances, conditions have simply gone from bad to worse. If you live around here and step out the front door of your house, there’s a good chance you’ll see a boarded up property. Turn the other way and you may see more of the same.
The commercial aspect is even worse. A trip down Broadway Avenue in any direction will show you empty store-front after empty store-front. Clearly we do not have a business friendly environment for private enterprise. Not enough customers; foreclosures and increasing poverty are an obvious possibility. There’s a cry for help. Then when somebody wants to open a car parts retail store or a bike shop, the initiatives are crushed by the heavy foot of bureaucracy. There are whole swaths of West Broadway that are simply waste land. Essentially, they are just empty fields of nothingness.
The face of North Minneapolis is beginning to look like Jersey City, Pittsburgh, or even Gary. With so much emptiness, NoMi feels like an old house with all the children gone; no, or empty, even if that.
I put together this video to help me articulate my point. Watch it, but do not enjoy it. If you don’t like it, too bad, this is reality. The video shows boarded up houses in Jordan and Hawthorne. It shows the vast swaths of Broadway’s empty land, and most importantly, it shows the empty business store-fronts.
If you are a local North Minneapolitan, like me, don’t despair. Wheels of progress have been set in motion, but your help is going to be required. Stay tuned…
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5 comments:
While I don't disagree with you about the massive weight of the blight in our neighborhoods (blog post about blight coming soon elsewhere) I will actually disagree that the livability of Jordan is much improved over the years of 2002-2007ish when shootings and homicides were rampant, 26th Ave was essentially the farmers market for vices, each corner posted with 2,3 or 4 punks who hollered as you drove by "Green, I got that green" "Chronic, chronic" and did the little cigarette finger to mouth action. A kid got his brains blown out all over the the back wall of Big Stop. A squad car turns onto the 2500 block of James and got surrounded by gang members, having to call for back up. I could go on and on. But I'd have to say the livability is actually improved and the crazy thing is that the foreclosure crisis, which hit the investment property market the hardest, probably contributed to clearing out some of the crime.
But you are right, the empty houses, the empty stores, the blight and dilapidation are crushing.
A business person would have to be an idiot to try to open a business up in NoMi. There are no jobs, no skilled workers, no pride. Poor people have no hope right now. Without the "underground" economy, there would be no economy at all!
@ Anon 8:03,
You just won yourself the Jerk Du Jour award. I live in NoMi and consider myself to be a very highly skilled worker. A whole bunch of us here are college educated professionals.
Not having hope is a terrible thing. Perhaps you could tell us who these people with no hope are, that way we can seek them out and help them?
Finally, it sounds like you're advocating on behalf of the narcotics trade. Shame on you! Seriously, shame on you!
Anon 8:03 has some points regarding the blight of the poor in today's economy and makes a valid assessment regarding Americas "Underground Economy" which the media has not picked up on. As demonstrated in the video, NoMi has certainly been highly impacted by these conditions, but I can see huge improvements in community socialization in the last several years.
Contrary to 8:03's analysis of the local business environment; these improvements actually create a great opportunity for business investment at a grass roots level.
Without major subsidies, no one is going to open a business in NoMi. There is no discretionary spendable income there. To I.I. - good for you, I am glad you are a college graduate and probably makes over 100 grand a year, but how many are there of your type in NoMi - maybe 10%?? What is the graduation from high school up in NoMi - maybe 40%? Without some sort of gentrification, there is no hope in NoMi. Send out flyers to colleges for recruits!
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